Organoaminodisilane precursors and methods for depositing films comprising same

ABSTRACT

Described herein are precursors and methods for forming silicon-containing films. In one aspect, there is a precursor of following Formula I: 
                         
wherein R 1  and R 3  are independently selected from linear or branched C 3  to C 10  alkyl group, a linear or branched C 3  to C 10  alkenyl group, a linear or branched C 3  to C 10  alkynyl group, a C 1  to C 6  dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing and a C 6  to C 10  aryl group; R 2  and R 4  are independently selected from hydrogen, a linear or branched C 3  to C 10  alkyl group, a linear or branched C 3  to C 10  alkenyl group, a linear or branched C 3  to C 10  alkynyl group, a C 1  to C 6  dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing, and a C 6  to C 10  aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R 1  and R 2 , R 3  and R 4 , R 1  and R 3 , or R 2  and R 4  are linked to form a ring.

CROSS-REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and benefit of U.S. Provisional Ser. No. 61/654,508, filed Jun. 1, 2012, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Precursors, particularly organoaminodisilane and compositions thereof, that can be used for the deposition of silicon-containing films, including but not limited to, amorphous silicon, crystalline silicon, silicon nitride, silicon oxide, silicon carbo-nitride, and silicon oxynitride films are described herein. Also described herein is the use of these organoaminodisilane precursors for depositing silicon-containing silicon-containing films in the fabrication of integrated circuit devices. The organoaminodisilane precursors described herein may be used for a variety of deposition processes, including but not limited to, atomic layer deposition (“ALD”), chemical vapor deposition (“CVD”), plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (“PECVD”), low pressure chemical vapor deposition (“LPCVD”), and atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition.

Several classes of compounds can be used as precursors for silicon-containing films such as, but not limited to, silicon oxide or silicon nitride films. Examples of these compounds suitable for use as precursors include silanes, chlorosilanes, polysilazanes, aminosilanes, and azidosilanes. Inert carrier gas(es) or diluents(s) such as, but not limited, helium, hydrogen, nitrogen, etc., can also used with the precursor(s) to deliver the precursors to the reaction chamber.

Low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) processes are one of the more widely accepted methods used by semiconductor industry for the deposition of silicon-containing films. Low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) using ammonia may require deposition temperatures of greater than 750° C. to obtain reasonable growth rates and uniformities. Higher deposition temperatures are typically employed to provide improved film properties. One of the more common industry methods to grow silicon nitride or other silicon-containing films is through low pressure chemical vapor deposition in a hot wall reactor at temperatures >750° C. using the precursors silane, dichlorosilane, and/or ammonia. However, there are several drawbacks using this method. For example, certain precursors, such as silane, are pyrophoric. This may present problems in handling and usage. Also, films deposited from silane and dichlorosilane may contain certain impurities. For example, films deposited using dichlorosilane may contain certain impurities, such as chlorine and ammonium chloride, which are formed as byproducts during the deposition process. Films deposited using silane may contain hydrogen.

Precursors that are used in depositing silicon nitride films such as BTBAS and chlorosilanes generally deposit the films at temperatures greater than 550° C. The trend of miniaturization of semiconductor devices and low thermal budget requires lower process temperature and higher deposition rate. The temperature, at which the silicon films are deposited, should decrease in order to prevent ion diffusion in the lattice, particularly for those substrates comprising metallization layers and on many Group III-V and II-VI devices. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide precursors for the deposition of silicon-containing films, such as silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, or silicon nitride films that are sufficiently chemically reactive to allow deposition via CVD, ALD or other processes at temperatures of 550° C. or below or even at room temperature.

The reference entitled “Disilanyl-amines—Compounds Comprising the Structure Unit Si—Si—N, as Single-Source Precursors for Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PE-CVD) of Silicon Nitride”, Schuh et al., Zeitschrift Für Anorganische and Allgemeine Chemie, 619 (1993), pp. 1347-52 describes potential single-source precursors for PECVD of silicon nitride films wherein the precursors have the structural unit Si—Si—N such as (Et₂N)₂HSi—SiH₃, (Et₂N)₂HSi—SiH(NEt₂)₂, [(i-Pr)₂N]H₂Si—SiH₃, and [(i-Pr)₂N]H₂Si—SiH₂[N(i-Pr)₂]. The precursor 1,2-bis(di-1-propylamino)disilane (BIPADS) was used for the PECVD deposition of silicon nitride films. The resulting films from the BIPADS precursor exhibited refractive indices ranging from 1.631-1.814 and had low carbon and very low oxygen contents but high, Si-bound hydrogen contents.

The reference entitled “1,2-Disilanediyl Bis(triflate), F₃CSO₃—SiH₂—SiH₂—O₃SCF₃, as the Key Intermediate for a Facile Preparation of Open-Chain and Cyclic 1,1- and 1,2-Diaminodisilanes”, Sölder et al., Inorganic Chemistry, 36 (1997), pp. 1758-63 describes high yield syntheses for several open-chain and cyclic diaminodisilanes with fully hydrogenated Si linkages.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,895 describes the deposition of high-quality SiO₂ films at low temperatures in a PECVD process using disilane (Si₂H₆) and nitrous oxide.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,019,159 and 7,064,083 describe a composition and method of preparing silane compounds or hexakis(monohydrocarbylamino)disilanes that are free of chlorine and have the formula: ((R)HN)₃—Si—Si—(NH(R))₃ wherein R independently represents a C₁ to C₄ hydrocarbyl. The hexakis(monohydrocarbylamino)disilane precursors are used for the deposition of silicon nitride or silicon oxynitride films.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,153,832 describes pentakis(dimethylamino)disilane compounds having the formula: Si₂(NMe₂)₅Y where Y is selected from the group consisting of H, Cl, or an amino group and its use for manufacturing gate silicon-containing films or etch-stop silicon-containing films of SiN or SiON.

US Publ. No. 2009/0209081 describes methods for depositing silicon dioxide containing thin films on a substrate using hexakis(monoalkylamino)disilane such as hexakis(ethylamino)disilane as silicon source and ozone as oxidant. The growth rate was about 1.1 Å/cycle.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,077,904 describes methods for depositing silicon dioxide containing thin films on a substrate using hexachlorodisilane as silicon source and water as oxidant in presence of catalyst such as pyridine. The growth rates were in the range from 2.6 to 0.6 Å/cycle at substrate temperatures from 50 to 140° C.

US Publ. No. 2013/0109155 describes a method of forming a seed layer for a thin film using an aminosilane based gas having two Si atoms such as hexakisethylaminodisilane (C₁₂H₃₆N₆Si₂). Other aminosilanes having the following formulas may also be used: (1) (R1R2)N)nSi2H6-n-m(R3)m . . . n: the number of amino groups, m: the number of alkyl groups or (2) (R1)NH)nSi2H6-n-m(R3)m . . . n: the number of amino groups, m: the number of alkyl groups. In formulas (1) and (2), R1, R2, R3=CH₃, C₂H₅, C₃H₇, R1=R2=R3 or may not be the same as each other, n=an integer ranging from 1 to 6 and m=0, and 1 to 5.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,446,217; 7,531,679; 7,713,346; 7,786,320; 7,887,883; and 7,910,765 describe silane precursors that comprise at least one disilane derivative that is fully substituted with alkylamino and/or dialkylamino functional groups. Besides the foregoing, there have been a few monodialkylaminodisilanes reported in the art such as dimethylaminodisilane (CAS#14396-26-0P), diethylaminodisilane (CAS#132905-0-5), and di-iso-propylaminodisilane (CAS#151625-25-1).

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Described herein are organoaminodisilane precursors comprising a Si—N bond, a Si—Si bond and a Si—H₂ group having Formula I described herein, compositions comprising organoaminodisilanes having Formula I, and methods using same for forming films comprising silicon, such as, but not limited to, amorphous silicon, crystalline silicon, silicon oxide, carbon-doped silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, silicon carbide, silicon carbonitride, and combinations thereof onto at least a portion of a substrate. In addition, described herein is a composition comprising an organoaminodisilane described herein wherein the organoaminodisilane is substantially free of at least one selected from an amine, a halide, a higher molecular weight specie, and a metal. In these or other embodiments, the composition may further comprise a solvent. Also disclosed herein are the methods to form films comprising silicon or silicon-containing coatings on an object to be processed using the organoaminodisilane precursors having Formula I described herein, such as, for example, a semiconductor wafer. In one embodiment of the method described herein, a film comprising silicon and oxygen is deposited onto a substrate using an organoaminodisilane precursor having Formula I described herein and an oxygen-containing source in a deposition chamber under conditions for generating a silicon oxide film on the substrate. In another embodiment of the method described herein, a film comprising silicon and nitrogen is deposited onto a substrate using an organoaminodisilane precursor having Formula I and a nitrogen containing precursor in a deposition chamber under conditions for generating a silicon nitride film on the substrate. In a further embodiment, the organoaminodisilane precursors having Formula I described herein can also be used a dopant for metal containing films, such as but not limited to, metal oxide films or metal nitride films. In the compositions and methods described herein, an organoaminodisilane having Formula I described herein is employed as at least one of the silicon containing precursors.

In one aspect, the organoaminodisilane precursor described herein comprises at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising a Si—N bond, a Si—Si bond, and a Si—H₂ group represented by the following Formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring. In certain embodiments such as in Formula I, R¹, R², R³, and R⁴ are the same with the proviso that they cannot both be iso-propyl. In other embodiments, R¹, R², R³, and R² are different. In one embodiment, any one or all of R¹ and R², or R³ and R⁴, or R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₆ alkyl group and are linked to form a cyclic ring. In yet further embodiments, none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, and R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring.

In another aspect, there is provided a composition comprising: (a) at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising a Si—N bond, a Si—Si bond, and a Si—H₂ group represented by the following Formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring; and (b) a solvent. In certain embodiments such as in Formula I, R¹, R², R³, and R⁴ are the same with the proviso that they cannot both be iso-propyl. In other embodiments, R¹, R², R³, and R⁴ are different. In one embodiment, any one or all of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₆ alkyl group and are linked to form a cyclic ring. In the yet further embodiments, none of R¹ and R², or R³ and R⁴, or R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring. In certain embodiments of the composition described herein, exemplary solvent(s) can include, without limitation, ether, tertiary amine, alkyl hydrocarbon, aromatic hydrocarbon, tertiary aminoether, and combinations thereof. In certain embodiments, the difference between the boiling point of the solvent and a boiling point of the organoaminodisilane is 40° C. or less.

In another aspect, there is provided a method for forming a silicon-containing film on at least one surface of a substrate comprising:

providing the at least one surface of the substrate in a reaction chamber; and

forming the silicon-containing film on the at least one surface by a deposition process chosen from a chemical vapor deposition process and an atomic layer deposition process at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising a Si—N bond, a Si—Si bond, and a Si—H₂ group represented by the following Formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring.

In another aspect, there is provided a method of forming a silicon oxide film via an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process or an ALD-like process, the method comprising the steps of:

a. providing a substrate in a reactor;

b. introducing into the reactor an at least one organoaminodisilane precursor selected from an at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising a Si—N bond, a Si—Si bond, and a Si—H₂ group represented by the following formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring;

c. purging the reactor with a purge gas;

d. introducing an oxygen-containing source into the reactor;

e. optionally purging the reactor with a purge gas; and

wherein steps b through e are repeated until a desired thickness of the film is obtained.

In another aspect, there is provided a method of forming a silicon oxide film via plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition process, the method comprising the steps of:

a. providing a substrate in a reactor;

b. introducing into the reactor an oxygen source and an at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising a Si—N bond, a Si—Si bond, and a Si—H₂ group represented by the following Formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring;

c. purging the reactor with a purge gas along with the oxygen-containing source;

d. applying RF plasma;

e. purging the reactor with a purge gas or pumping the reactor to remove a reaction by-product; and wherein steps b through e are repeated until a desired thickness of the film is obtained.

In a further aspect, there is provided a method of forming a silicon oxide film onto at least a surface of a substrate using a CVD process comprising:

a. providing a substrate in a reactor;

b. introducing into the reactor an at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising a Si—N bond, a Si—Si bond, and a Si—H₂ group represented by the following formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring; and

c. providing simultaneously an oxygen-containing source to deposit the silicon oxide film onto the at least one surface of a substrate.

In another aspect, there is provided a method of forming a silicon nitride film via an atomic layer deposition or ALD-like process, the method comprising the steps of:

a. providing a substrate in a reactor;

b. introducing into the reactor an at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising a Si—N bond, a Si—Si bond, and a Si—H₂ group represented by the following Formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring;

c. purging the reactor with a purge gas;

d. introducing a nitrogen-containing source into the reactor;

e. purging the reactor with a purge gas; and wherein the steps b through e are repeated until a desired thickness of the silicon nitride film is obtained.

In another aspect, there is provided a method of forming a silicon nitride via plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition or plasma enhanced ALD-like process, the method comprising the steps of:

a. providing a substrate in a reactor;

b. introducing into the reactor a nitrogen-containing source along with an at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising a Si—N bond, a Si—Si bond, and a Si—H₂ group represented by the following Formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring;

c. purging the reactor with a purge gas along with the nitrogen-containing source;

d. applying RF plasma;

e. purging the reactor with a purge gas or pumping the reactor to remove a reaction by-product; and wherein the steps b through e are repeated until a desired thickness of the film is obtained.

In a further aspect, there is provided a method of forming a silicon nitride film onto at least a surface of a substrate using a CVD process comprising:

a. providing a substrate in a reactor;

b. introducing into the reactor at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising a Si—N bond, a Si—Si bond, and a Si—H₂ group represented by the following Formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring; and

c. providing a nitrogen-containing source wherein the at least one organoaminodisilane precursor and the nitrogen-containing source react to deposit the film comprising both silicon and nitrogen onto the at least one surface.

In a further embodiment of the method described herein, the process is depositing amorphous or crystalline silicon film using a cyclic CVD method. In this embodiment, the method comprises:

placing one or more substrates into a reactor which is heated to one or more temperatures ranging from ambient temperature to about 700° C.;

introducing at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising a Si—N bond, a Si—Si bond, and a Si—H₂ groups represented by the following Formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring; and

optionally providing a reducing agent source into the reactor to at least partially react with the at least one organoaminodisilane precursor and deposit a silicon-containing film onto the one or more substrates. In embodiments wherein a reducing agent is used, the reducing agent is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydrogen plasma, and hydrogen chloride. In certain embodiments of the method, the reactor is maintained at a pressure ranging from 10 mTorr to 760 Torr during the deposition process. The above steps define one cycle for the method described herein, and the cycle of steps can be repeated until the desired thickness of a film is obtained.

In another aspect, there is provided a method of depositing amorphous or crystalline silicon film via an atomic layer deposition or ALD-like or cyclic chemical vapor deposition process, the method comprising the steps of:

a. providing a substrate in a reactor;

b. introducing into the reactor an at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising a Si—N bond, a Si—Si bond, and a Si—H₂ group represented by the following Formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring;

c. purging the reactor with a purge gas or pumping the reactor to remove unreacted organoaminodisilane and by-products wherein the steps b and c are repeated until a desired thickness of the silicon film is obtained. In this or other embodiments, the thickness of the silicon film can be greater than 1 Å, or from 1 to 10,000 Å, or from 1 to 1000 Å, or from 1 to 100 Å.

In another aspect, a vessel for depositing a silicon-containing film comprising one or more organoaminodisilane precursor having Formula I is described herein. In one particular embodiment, the vessel comprises at least one pressurizable vessel (preferably of stainless steel) fitted with the proper valves and fittings to allow the delivery of one or more precursors to the reactor for a CVD or an ALD process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The organoaminodisilanes described herein are used as precursors to form stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric silicon containing films such as, but not limited to, amorphous silicon, crystalline silicon, silicon oxide, silicon oxycarbide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, and silicon oxycarbonitride. These precursors can also be used, for example, as dopants for metal containing films. The organoaminodisilane precursors used in semi-conductor processes are typically high purity volatile liquid precursor chemical that are vaporized and delivered to a deposition chamber or reactor as a gas to deposit a silicon containing film via CVD or ALD processes for semiconductor devices. The selection of precursor materials for deposition depends upon the desired resultant silicon-containing material or film. For example, a precursor material may be chosen for its content of chemical elements, its stoichiometric ratios of the chemical elements, and/or the resultant silicon containing film or coating that are formed under CVD. The precursor material may also be chosen for various other characteristics such as cost, relatively low toxicity, handling characteristics, ability to maintain liquid phase at room temperature, volatility, molecular weight, and/or other considerations. In certain embodiments, the precursors described herein can be delivered to the reactor system by any number of means, preferably using a pressurizable stainless steel vessel fitted with the proper valves and fittings, to allow the delivery of liquid phase precursor to the deposition chamber or reactor.

The organoaminodisilane precursors described herein exhibit a balance of reactivity and stability that makes them ideally suitable as CVD or ALD precursors in microelectronic device manufacturing processes. With regard to reactivity, certain precursors may have boiling points that are too high to be vaporized and delivered to the reactor to be deposited as a film on a substrate. Precursors having higher relative boiling points require that the delivery container and lines need to be heated at or above the boiling point of the precursor under a given vacuum to prevent condensation or particles from forming in the container, lines, or both. With regard to stability, other precursors may form silane (SiH₄) or disilane (Si₂H₆) as they degrade. Silane is pyrophoric at room temperature or it can spontaneously combust which presents safety and handling issues. Moreover, the formation of silane or disilane and other by-products decreases the purity level of the precursor and changes as small as 1-2% in chemical purity may be considered unacceptable for reliable semiconductor manufacture. In certain embodiments, the organoaminodisilane precursors having Formula I described herein comprise 2% or less by weight, or 1% or less by weight, or 0.5% or less by weight of by-product (such as the corresponding bis-disilane byproduct) after being stored for a time period of 6 months or greater, or one year or greater which is indicative of being shelf stable. In addition to the foregoing advantages, in certain embodiments, such as for depositing a silicon oxide or silicon nitride or silicon film using an ALD, ALD-like, PEALD, or CCVD deposition method, the organoaminodisilane precursor described herein may be able to deposit high density materials at relatively low deposition temperatures, e.g., 500° C. or less, or 400° C. or less, 300° C. or less, 200° C. or less, 100° C. or less, or 50° C. or less. In one particular embodiment, the organoaminodisilane precursor, such as di-iso-propylaminodisilane, di-sec-butylaminodisilane, or 2,6-dimethylpiperidinodisilane can be used to deposit a silicon-containing film via ALD or PEALD at a temperature as low as 50° C. or less or at room temperature (e.g., 25° C.).

In one embodiment, described herein is a composition for forming a silicon-containing film comprising: an organoaminodisilane having Formula I described herein and a solvent(s). Without being bound by any theory, it is believed that composition described herein may provide one or more advantages compared to pure organoaminodisilane. These advantages include: better usage of the organoaminodisilane in semiconductor processes, better stability over long term storage, cleaner evaporation by flash vaporization, and/or overall more stable direct liquid injection (DLI) chemical vapor deposition process. The weight percentage of the organoaminodisilane in the composition can range from 1 to 99% with the balance being solvent(s) wherein the solvent(s) does not react with the organoaminodisilane and has a boiling point similar to the organoaminodisilane. With regard to the latter, the difference between the boiling points of the organoaminodisilane and solvent(s) in the composition is 40° C. or less, more preferably 20° C. or less, or 10° C. or less. Exemplary compositions include, but not limited to, a mixture of di-iso-propylaminodisilane (b.p. about 157° C.) and octane (b.p. 125 to 126° C.), a mixture of di-iso-propylaminodisilane (b.p. about 157° C.) and ethylcyclohexane (b.p. 130-132° C.), di-iso-propylaminodisilane (b.p. about 157° C.) and toluene (b.p. 115° C.), a mixture of di-sec-butylaminodisilane and decane (b.p. 174° C.), a mixture of di-sec-butylaminodisilane and decane, a mixture of di-sec-butylaminodisilane and 2,2′-oxybis(N,N-dimethylethanamine (b.p., 189° C.).

In one aspect, there is provided certain precursors or organoaminodisilanes comprising a Si—N bond, a Si—Si bond, and a Si—H₂ group represented by the following Formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring. In certain embodiments of Formula I, R¹, R², R³, and R⁴ are the same with the proviso that they cannot both be iso-propyl. In other embodiments, R¹, R², R³, and R² are different. In one embodiment, any one or all of R¹ and R² or R³ and R⁴ or R¹ and R³ or R² and R⁴ are selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₆ alkyl group and are linked to form a cyclic ring. In an alternative embodiment, R¹ and R², or R³ and R⁴, or R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are not linked together to form a ring.

In the formulae described herein and throughout the description, the term “alkyl” denotes a linear, or branched functional group having from 1 to 10 or 1 to 6 carbon atoms. Exemplary alkyl groups include, but are not limited to, methyl (Me), ethyl (Et), propyl (n-Pr), isopropyl (iso-Pr or ^(i)Pr), butyl (n-Bu), isobutyl (^(s)Bu), sec-butyl (^(s)Bu), tert-butyl (^(t)Bu), pentyl, iso-pentyl, tert-pentyl (amyl), hexyl, iso-hexyl, and neo-hexyl. In certain embodiments, the alkyl group may have one or more functional groups such as, but not limited to, an alkoxy group, a dialkylamino group or combinations thereof, attached thereto. In other embodiments, the alkyl group does not have one or more functional groups attached thereto.

In the formulae described herein and throughout the description, the term “cyclic alkyl” denotes a cyclic functional group having from 3 to 10 or from 4 to 10 carbon atoms or from 5 to 10 carbon atoms. Exemplary cyclic alkyl groups include, but are not limited to, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, and cyclooctyl groups.

In the formulae described herein and throughout the description, the term “aryl” denotes an aromatic cyclic functional group having from 5 to 12 carbon atoms or from 6 to 10 carbon atoms. Exemplary aryl groups include, but are not limited to, phenyl, benzyl, chlorobenzyl, tolyl, and o-xylyl.

In the formulae described herein and throughout the description, the term “alkenyl group” denotes a group which has one or more carbon-carbon double bonds and has from 3 to 10 or from 3 to 6 or from 3 to 4 carbon atoms.

In the formulae described herein and throughout the description, the term “alkynyl group” denotes a group which has one or more carbon-carbon triple bonds and has from 3 to 10 or from 3 to 6 or from 3 to 4 carbon atoms.

In the formulae described herein and throughout the description, the term “alkoxy” denotes an alkyl group which has is linked to an oxygen atom (e.g., R—O) and may have from 1 to 10, or from 1 to 6, or from 1 to 4 carbon atoms. Exemplary alkoxy groups include, but are not limited to, methoxy (—OCH₃), ethoxy(—OCH₂CH₃), n-propoxy (—OCH₂CH₂CH₃), and iso-propoxy (—OCHMe₂).

In the formulae described herein and throughout the description, the term “dialkylamine group” denotes a group which has two alkyl groups attached to a nitrogen atom and has from 1 to 10 or from 2 to 6 or from 2 to 4 carbon atoms.

In the formulae described herein and throughout the description, the term “electron withdrawing group” as used herein describes an atom or group thereof that acts to draw electrons away from the Si—N bond. Examples of suitable electron withdrawing groups or substituents include, but are not limited to, nitriles (CN). In certain embodiments, electron withdrawing substituent can be adjacent to or proximal to N in any one of Formula I. Further non-limiting examples of an electron withdrawing group includes F, Cl, Br, I, CN, NO₂, RSO, and/or RSO₂ wherein R can be a C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group such as, but not limited to, a methyl group or another group.

In the formulas above and through the description, the term “unsaturated” as used herein means that the functional group, substituent, ring or bridge has one or more carbon double or triple bonds. An example of an unsaturated ring can be, without limitation, an aromatic ring such as a phenyl ring. The term “saturated” means that the functional group, substituent, ring or bridge does not have one or more double or triple bonds.

In certain embodiments, one or more of the alkyl group, alkenyl group, alkynyl group, alkoxy group, dialkylamino group, aryl group, and/or electron withdrawing group in Formula I may be substituted or have one or more atoms or group of atoms substituted in place of, for example, a hydrogen atom. Exemplary substituents include, but are not limited to, oxygen, sulfur, halogen atoms (e.g., F, Cl, I, or Br), nitrogen, and phosphorous. In other embodiments, one or more of the alkyl group, alkenyl group, alkynyl group, alkoxy group, dialkylamino aryl group, and/or electron withdrawing group in Formula I may be unsubstituted. In certain embodiments, the organoaminodisilane precursor having Formula I has one or more substituents comprising oxygen atoms. In these embodiments, the need for an oxygen-containing source during the deposition process may be avoided. In other embodiments, the at least one organoaminodisilane precursor having Formula I has one or more substituents comprising oxygen atoms also uses an oxygen-containing source. In this or other embodiments, any one or more of substituents R¹ and R² or R³ and R⁴ or R¹ and R³ or R² and R⁴ are linked via an oxygen atom in Formula I to form a ring structure.

In certain embodiments, any one or all of R¹ and R² or R³ and R⁴ or R¹ and R³ or R² and R⁴ are linked in Formula I to form a ring structure. In these embodiments, R², R⁴, or both are not hydrogen. For example in an embodiment where R¹ and R² are linked together to form a ring, R² may include a bond (instead of a hydrogen substituent) for linking to R¹. Thus, in the example above R² may be selected from a C₁ to C₁₀ alkenyl moiety or a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkynyl moiety. In these embodiments, the ring structure can be unsaturated such as, for example, a cyclic alkyl ring, or saturated, for example, an aryl ring. Further, in these embodiments, the ring structure can also be substituted or substituted. In one particular embodiment, the organoaminodisilane comprises an aliphatic, substituted ring such as a heteratomic cyclic functional group having from 5 to 10 carbon atoms and at least one nitrogen atom. Exemplary of these particular embodiments include, but are not limited to, 1,2-bis(pyrrolidino)disilane wherein R¹=propyl and R²=Me, 1,2-bis(piperidino)disilane wherein R¹=propyl and R²=Et, 2,6-dimethylpiperidinodisilane R¹=iso-propyl and R²=sec-butyl, and 2,5-dimethylpyrrolidinodilane R¹=iso-propyl and R²=iso-propyl.

In other embodiments, none of R¹ and R² or R³ and R⁴ or R¹ and R³ or R² and R⁴ are linked in Formula I.

The following Table 1 provides some non-limiting examples of certain embodiments of the organoaminodisilanes having Formula I:

TABLE 1 Exemplary Organoaminodisilane Having Formula I

Without being bound by theory, it is believed that organoaminodisilane precursors having Formula I described herein comprising a Si—N bond, a Si—Si bond and a SiH₂ group are advantageous over known organoaminodisilane precursors containing only Si—N and Si—Si bonds because of it has five Si—H groups and one Si—Si bond which make them more reactive, allowing deposition temperature to be lower such as below 400° C. than conventional precursors such as chlorosilanes, hexachlorodisilane, or organoaminosilanes.

In certain embodiments, the organoaminodisilanes having Formula I can be prepared by reacting a 1,2-dichlorodisilane (DCDS) with an amine having the following Formula II or III.

In Formula II or III, R¹, R², R³, and R⁴ are the same as the substituents described above in Formula I. The following Equation 1 provides a non-limiting example of a reaction schemes or synthesis route which may be used to make the organoaminodisilanes having Formula I as described herein. The reaction in Equation (1) can be conducted with (e.g., in the presence of) or without (e.g., in the absence of) organic solvents. In embodiments wherein an organic solvent is used, examples of suitable organic solvents include, but are not limited to, hydrocarbon such as hexanes, octane, toluene, and ethers such as diethylether and tetrahydrofuran (THF). In these or other embodiments, the reaction temperature is in the range of from about −70° C. to the boiling point of the solvent employed if a solvent is used. The resulting organoaminodisilane can be purified, for example, via vacuum distillation after removing all by-products as well as any solvent(s) if present.

Equation 1 above is one example of a synthetic route to make the organoaminodisilanes having Formula I involving a reaction between 1,2-dihalodisilane (XSiH₂SiH₂X wherein X═Cl, Br, I) and a secondary amine presented in Formula II. Other synthetic routes may be also employed to make the organoaminodisilanes described herein such as, for example, reducing diaminotetrachlorodisilanes with metal hydride or disproportionation of diaminocholordisilane or reacting disilane with secondary amine in presence of catalyst.

The method used to form the silicon-containing films or coatings are deposition processes. Examples of suitable deposition processes for the method disclosed herein include, but are not limited to, cyclic CVD (CCVD), MOCVD (Metal Organic CVD), thermal chemical vapor deposition, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (“PECVD”), high density PECVD, photon assisted CVD, plasma-photon assisted (“PPECVD”), cryogenic chemical vapor deposition, chemical assisted vapor deposition, hot-filament chemical vapor deposition, CVD of a liquid polymer precursor, deposition from supercritical fluids, and low energy CVD (LECVD). In certain embodiments, the metal containing films are deposited via atomic layer deposition (ALD), plasma enhanced ALD (PEALD) or plasma enhanced cyclic CVD (PECCVD) process. As used herein, the term “chemical vapor deposition processes” refers to any process wherein a substrate is exposed to one or more volatile precursors, which react and/or decompose on the substrate surface to produce the desired deposition. As used herein, the term “atomic layer deposition process” refers to a self-limiting (e.g., the amount of film material deposited in each reaction cycle is constant), sequential surface chemistry that deposits films of materials onto substrates of varying compositions. Although the precursors, reagents and sources used herein may be sometimes described as “gaseous”, it is understood that the precursors can be either liquid or solid which are transported with or without an inert gas into the reactor via direct vaporization, bubbling or sublimation. In some case, the vaporized precursors can pass through a plasma generator. In one embodiment, the silicon-containing film is deposited using an ALD process. In another embodiment, the silicon-containing film is deposited using a CCVD process. In a further embodiment, the silicon-containing film is deposited using a thermal CVD process. The term “reactor” as used herein, includes without limitation, reaction chamber or deposition chamber.

In certain embodiments, the method disclosed herein avoids pre-reaction of the precursors by using ALD or CCVD methods that separate the precursors prior to and/or during the introduction to the reactor. In this connection, deposition techniques such as ALD or CCVD processes are used to deposit the silicon-containing film. In one embodiment, the film is deposited via an ALD process by exposing the substrate surface alternatively to the one or more the silicon-containing precursor, oxygen-containing source, nitrogen-containing source, or other precursor or reagent. Film growth proceeds by self-limiting control of surface reaction, the pulse length of each precursor or reagent, and the deposition temperature. However, once the surface of the substrate is saturated, the film growth ceases. The ALD-like process is defined herein as a cyclic CVD process that provides a high conformal silicon-containing film such as amorphous silicon, silicon oxide, carbon doped silicon oxide, silicon carbonitride, silicon nitride on a substrate as shown by having a percentage of non-uniformity of 5% or less, a deposition rate of 1 Å or greater per cycle, or both.

In certain embodiments, the method described herein further comprises one or more additional silicon-containing precursors other than the organoaminodisilane precursor having the above Formula I. Examples of additional silicon-containing precursors include, but are not limited to, monoaminosilane (e.g., di-iso-propylaminosilane, di-sec-butylaminosilane, phenylmethylaminosilane; organo-silicon compounds such as trisilylamine (TSA); monoaminosilane (di-iso-propylaminosilane, di-sec-butylaminosilane, phenylmethylaminosilane); siloxanes (e.g., hexamethyl disiloxane (HMDSO) and dimethyl siloxane (DMSO)); organosilanes (e.g., methylsilane, dimethylsilane, diethylsilane, vinyl trimethylsilane, trimethylsilane, tetramethylsilane, ethylsilane, disilylmethane, 2,4-disilapentane, 1,4-disilabutane, 2,5-disilahexane, 2,2-disilylpropane, 1,3,5-trisilacyclohexane and fluorinated derivatives of these compounds); phenyl-containing organo-silicon compounds (e.g., dimethylphenylsilane and diphenylmethylsilane); oxygen-containing organo-silicon compounds, e.g., dimethyldimethoxysilane; 1,3,5,7-tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane; 1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane; 1,3,5,7-tetrasila-4-oxo-heptane; 2,4,6,8-tetrasila-3,7-dioxo-nonane; 2,2-dimethyl-2,4,6,8-tetrasila-3,7-dioxo-nonane; octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane; [1,3,5,7,9]-pentamethylcyclopentasiloxane; 1,3,5,7-tetrasila-2,6-dioxo-cyclooctane; hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane; 1,3-dimethyldisiloxane; 1,3,5,7,9-pentamethylcyclopentasiloxane; hexamethoxydisiloxane, and fluorinated derivatives of these compounds.

Depending upon the deposition method, in certain embodiments, the one or more silicon-containing precursors may be introduced into the reactor at a predetermined molar volume, or from about 0.1 to about 1000 micromoles. In this or other embodiments, the silicon-containing and/or organoaminodisilane precursor may be introduced into the reactor for a predetermined time period. In certain embodiments, the time period ranges from about 0.001 to about 500 seconds.

In certain embodiments, the silicon-containing films deposited using the methods described herein are formed in the presence of an oxygen-containing source, or precursor comprising oxygen. An oxygen-containing source may be introduced into the reactor in the form of at least one oxygen-containing source and/or may be present incidentally in the other precursors used in the deposition process. Suitable oxygen-containing source gases may include, for example, water (H₂O) (e.g., deionized water, purifier water, and/or distilled water), oxygen (O₂), oxygen plasma, ozone (O₃), NO, N₂O, NO₂, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂) and combinations thereof. In certain embodiments, the oxygen-containing source comprises an oxygen-containing source gas that is introduced into the reactor at a flow rate ranging from about 1 to about 2000 square cubic centimeters (sccm) or from about 1 to about 1000 sccm. The oxygen-containing source can be introduced for a time that ranges from about 0.1 to about 100 seconds. In one particular embodiment, the oxygen-containing source comprises water having a temperature of 10° C. or greater. In embodiments wherein the film is deposited by an ALD or a cyclic CVD process, the precursor pulse can have a pulse duration that is greater than 0.01 seconds, and the oxygen-containing source can have a pulse duration that is less than 0.01 seconds, while the water pulse duration can have a pulse duration that is less than 0.01 seconds. In yet another embodiment, the purge duration between the pulses that can be as low as 0 seconds or is continuously pulsed without a purge in-between.

In certain embodiments, the silicon-containing films comprise silicon and nitrogen. In these embodiments, the silicon-containing films deposited using the methods described herein are formed in the presence of nitrogen-containing source. A nitrogen-containing source may be introduced simultaneously or sequentially into the reactor in the form of at least one nitrogen source and/or may be present incidentally in the other precursors used in the deposition process. Suitable nitrogen-containing source gases may include, for example, ammonia, hydrazine, monoalkylhydrazine, dialkylhydrazine, nitrogen, nitrogen/hydrogen, ammonia plasma, nitrogen plasma, nitrogen/hydrogen plasma, and mixture thereof. In certain embodiments, the nitrogen-containing source comprises an ammonia plasma or hydrogen/nitrogen plasma source gas that is introduced into the reactor at a flow rate ranging from about 1 to about 2000 square cubic centimeters (sccm) or from about 1 to about 1000 sccm. The nitrogen-containing source can be introduced for a time that ranges from about 0.1 to about 100 seconds. In embodiments wherein the film is deposited by an ALD or a cyclic CVD process, the precursor pulse can have a pulse duration that is greater than 0.01 seconds, and the nitrogen-containing source can have a pulse duration that is less than 0.01 seconds, while the water pulse duration can have a pulse duration that is less than 0.01 seconds. In yet another embodiment, the purge duration between the pulses that can be as low as 0 seconds or is continuously pulsed without a purge in-between.

The deposition methods disclosed herein may involve one or more purge gases. The purge gas, which is used to purge away unconsumed reactants and/or reaction byproducts, is an inert gas that does not react with the precursors. Exemplary purge gases include, but are not limited to, argon (Ar), nitrogen (N₂), helium (He), neon, hydrogen (H₂), and mixtures thereof. In certain embodiments, a purge gas such as Ar or nitrogen is supplied into the reactor at a flow rate ranging from about 10 to about 2000 sccm for about 0.1 to 1000 seconds, thereby purging the unreacted material and any byproduct that may remain in the reactor.

The respective step of supplying the precursors, oxygen-containing source, the nitrogen-containing source, and/or other precursors, source gases, and/or reagents may be performed by changing the time for supplying them to change the stoichiometric composition of the resulting silicon-containing film or changing the order of steps.

Energy is applied to the at least one of the precursor, nitrogen-containing source, reducing agent, other precursors or combination thereof to induce reaction and to form the silicon-containing film or coating on the substrate. Such energy can be provided by, but not limited to, thermal, plasma, pulsed plasma, helicon plasma, high density plasma, inductively coupled plasma, X-ray, e-beam, photon, remote plasma methods, and combinations thereof. In certain embodiments, a secondary RF frequency source can be used to modify the plasma characteristics at the substrate surface. In embodiments wherein the deposition involves plasma, the plasma-generated process may comprise a direct plasma-generated process in which plasma is directly generated in the reactor, or alternatively a remote plasma-generated process in which plasma is generated outside of the reactor and supplied into the reactor.

The organoaminodisilane precursors having Formula I and/or other silicon-containing precursors may be delivered to the reaction chamber such as a CVD or ALD reactor in a variety of ways. In one embodiment, a liquid delivery system may be utilized. In an alternative embodiment, a combined liquid delivery and flash vaporization process unit may be employed, such as, for example, the turbo vaporizer manufactured by MSP Corporation of Shoreview, Minn., to enable low volatility materials to be volumetrically delivered, which leads to reproducible transport and deposition without thermal decomposition of the precursor. In liquid delivery formulations, the precursors described herein may be delivered in neat liquid form, or alternatively, may be employed in solvent formulations or compositions comprising same. Thus, in certain embodiments the precursor formulations may include solvent component(s) of suitable character as may be desirable and advantageous in a given end use application to form a film on a substrate.

For those embodiments relating to a composition comprising a solvent(s) and an organoaminodisilane precursor having Formula I described herein, the solvent or mixture thereof selected does not react with the organoaminodisilane. The amount of solvent by weight percentage in the composition ranges from 0.5% by weight to 99.5% or from 10% by weight to 75%. In this or other embodiments, the solvent has a boiling point (b.p.) similar to the b.p. of the organoaminodisilane of Formula I or the difference between the b.p. of the solvent and the b.p. of the organoaminodisilane of Formula I is 40° C. or less, 30° C. or less, or 20° C. or less, or 10° C. Alternatively, the difference between the boiling points ranges from any one or more of the following end-points: 0, 10, 20, 30, or 40° C. Examples of suitable ranges of b.p. difference include without limitation, 0 to 40° C., 20° to 30° C., or 10° to 30° C. Examples of suitable solvents in the compositions include, but are not limited to, an ether (such as 1,4-dioxane, dibutyl ether), a tertiary amine (such as pyridine, 1-methylpiperidine, 1-ethylpiperidine, N,N′-Dimethylpiperazine, N,N,N′,N′-Tetramethylethylenediamine), a nitrile (such as benzonitrile), an alkyl hydrocarbon (such as octane, nonane, dodecane, ethylcyclohexane), an aromatic hydrocarbon (such as toluene, mesitylene), a tertiary aminoether (such as bis(2-dimethylaminoethyl)ether), or mixtures thereof. Some non-limiting exemplary compositions include, but not limited to, a composition comprising di-iso-propylaminodisilane (b.p. about 157° C.) and octane (b.p. 125 to 126° C.); a composition comprising di-iso-propylaminodisilane (b.p. about 157° C.) and ethylcyclohexane (b.p. 130-132° C.); a composition comprising di-iso-propylaminodisilane (b.p. about 157° C.) and toluene (b.p. 115° C.); a composition comprising di-sec-butylaminodisilane and decane (b.p. 174° C.); and a composition comprising di-sec-butylaminodisilane and 2,2′-oxybis(N,N-dimethylethanamine) (b.p., 189° C.).

In another embodiment, a vessel for depositing a silicon-containing film comprising one or more organoaminodisilane precursor having Formula I is described herein. In one particular embodiment, the vessel comprises at least one pressurizable vessel (preferably of stainless steel) fitted with the proper valves and fittings to allow the delivery of one or more precursors to the reactor for a CVD or an ALD process. In this or other embodiments, the organoaminodisilane precursor having any of Formula I is provided in a pressurizable vessel comprised of stainless steel and the purity of the precursor is 98% by weight or greater or 99.5% or greater which is suitable for the majority of semiconductor applications. In certain embodiments, such vessels can also have means for mixing the precursors with one or more additional precursor if desired. In these or other embodiments, the contents of the vessel(s) can be premixed with an additional precursor. Alternatively, the organoaminodisilane precursor and/or other precursor can be maintained in separate vessels or in a single vessel having separation means for maintaining the organoaminodisilane precursor and other precursor separate during storage.

In one embodiment of the method described herein, a cyclic deposition process such as CCVD, ALD, or PEALD may be employed, wherein at least one silicon-containing precursor selected from an organoaminodisilane precursor having the formula described herein and optionally a nitrogen-containing source such as, for example, ammonia, hydrazine, monoalkylhydrazine, dialkylhydrazine, nitrogen, nitrogen/hydrogen, ammonia plasma, nitrogen plasma, nitrogen/hydrogen plasma are employed.

In certain embodiments, the gas lines connecting from the precursor canisters to the reaction chamber are heated to one or more temperatures depending upon the process requirements and the container of the organoaminodisilane precursor having the formula I described herein is kept at one or more temperatures for bubbling. In other embodiments, a solution comprising the at least one silicon-containing precursor having the formula described herein is injected into a vaporizer kept at one or more temperatures for direct liquid injection.

A flow of argon and/or other gas may be employed as a carrier gas to help deliver the vapor of the at least one organoaminodisilane precursor to the reaction chamber during the precursor pulsing.

In a typical ALD or CCVD process, the substrate such as a silicon or metal nitride substrate or a flexible substrate is heated on a heater stage in a reaction chamber that is exposed to the silicon-containing precursor initially to allow the organoaminodisilane to chemically adsorb onto the surface of the substrate. A purge gas such as nitrogen, argon purges away unabsorbed excess organoaminodisilane from the process chamber. After sufficient purging, an oxygen-containing source may be introduced into reaction chamber to react with the absorbed surface followed by another gas purge to remove reaction by-products from the chamber. The process cycle can be repeated to achieve the desired film thickness. In other embodiment, pumping under vacuum can be used to remove unabsorbed excess organoaminodisilane from the process chamber, after sufficient evacuation under pumping, an oxygen-containing source may be introduced into reaction chamber to react with the absorbed surface followed by another pumping down purge to remove reaction by-products from the chamber. Yet, in another embodiment, the organoaminodisilane and the oxygen-containing source can be co-flowed into reaction chamber to react on the substrate surface to deposit silicon oxide.

In this or other embodiments, it is understood that the steps of the methods described herein may be performed in a variety of orders, may be performed sequentially or concurrently (e.g., during at least a portion of another step), and any combination thereof. The respective step of supplying the precursors and the nitrogen-containing source gases may be performed by varying the duration of the time for supplying them to change the stoichiometric composition of the resulting silicon-containing film.

In another embodiment of the method disclosed herein, the films comprising silicon and nitrogen are formed using an ALD, a PEALD, a CCVD or a PECCVD deposition method that comprises the steps of:

a. providing a substrate in an ALD reactor;

b. introducing into the ALD reactor an at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising Si—N bond, Si—Si bond, and Si—H₂ groups represented by the following formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring;

c. chemisorbing the at least one organoaminodisilane precursor onto a substrate;

d. purging away the unreacted at least one organoaminodisilane precursor using a purge gas;

e. providing a nitrogen-containing source to onto the heated substrate to react with the sorbed at least one organoaminodisilane precursor; and

f. optionally purging away any unreacted nitrogen-containing source. In certain embodiments of the method described herein, steps b through f are repeated until a desired thickness of film is obtained.

In another embodiment of the method disclosed herein, the silicon-containing films is formed using a ALD deposition method that comprises the steps of:

a. providing a substrate in a reactor;

b. introducing into the reactor at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising Si—N bond, Si—Si bond, and Si—H₂ groups represented by the following formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring;

c. chemisorbing the at least one organoaminodisilane precursor onto a substrate;

d. purging away the unreacted at least one organoaminodisilane precursor using a purge gas or pumping;

e. providing an oxygen-containing source or a nitrogen source into the onto the heated substrate to react with the sorbed at least one organoaminodisilane precursor; and

f. optionally purging away any unreacted oxygen-containing source or nitrogen source. In certain embodiments of the method described herein, steps b through f are repeated until a desired thickness of film is obtained.

In another aspect, there is provided a method of forming a silicon-containing film via plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition process, the method comprising the steps of:

a. providing a substrate in a reactor;

b. introducing into the reactor oxygen along with an at least one organoaminodisilane precursor selected from an at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising Si—N bond, Si—Si bond, and Si—H₂ groups represented by the following formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring;

c. purging the reactor with a purge gas along with oxygen;

d. applying RF plasma;

e. purging the reactor with a purge gas or pumping the reactor to remove reaction by-product; and wherein steps b through e are repeated until a desired thickness of the film is obtained.

The above steps define one cycle for the method described herein; and the cycle can be repeated until the desired thickness of a silicon-containing film is obtained. In this or other embodiments, it is understood that the steps of the methods described herein may be performed in a variety of orders, may be performed sequentially or concurrently (e.g., during at least a portion of another step), and any combination thereof. The respective step of supplying the precursors and oxygen-containing source or nitrogen source may be performed by varying the duration of the time for supplying them to change the stoichiometric composition of the resulting silicon-containing film, although always using oxygen in less than a stoichiometric amount relative to the available silicon.

For multi-component silicon-containing films, other precursors such as silicon-containing precursors, nitrogen-containing precursors, reducing agents, or other reagents can be alternately introduced into the reactor chamber.

In a further embodiment of the method described herein, the silicon-containing film is deposited using a thermal CVD process. In this embodiment, the method comprises:

a. placing one or more substrates into a reactor which is heated to one or more temperatures ranging from ambient temperature (e.g., 25° C.) to about 700° C.;

b. introducing at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising Si—N bond, Si—Si bond, and Si—H₂ groups represented by the following formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring; and

c. providing simultaneously an oxygen-containing source into the reactor to at least partially react with the at least one organoaminodisilane precursor and deposit a silicon-containing film onto the one or more substrates.

In certain embodiments of the CVD method, the reactor is maintained at a pressure ranging from 10 mTorr to 760 Torr during the deposition process. The above steps define one cycle for the method described herein; and the cycle can be repeated until the desired thickness of a silicon-containing film is obtained. In this or other embodiments, it is understood that the steps of the methods described herein may be performed in a variety of orders, may be performed sequentially or concurrently (e.g., during at least a portion of another step), and any combination thereof. The respective step of supplying the precursors and oxygen-containing source may be performed by varying the duration of the time for supplying them to change the stoichiometric composition of the resulting silicon-containing film, although always using oxygen in less than a stoichiometric amount relative to the available silicon.

In a further embodiment of the method described herein, the process is depositing an amorphous or a crystalline silicon film. In this embodiment, the method comprises:

a. placing one or more substrates into a reactor which is heated to a temperature ranging from ambient temperature to about 700° C.;

b. introducing at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising Si—N bond, Si—Si bond, and Si—H₂ groups represented by the following formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring; and

b. providing a reducing agent source into the reactor to at least partially react with the at least one organoaminodisilane precursor and deposit a silicon-containing film onto the one or more substrates. In these embodiments, the reducing agent is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydrogen plasma, and hydrogen chloride.

In certain embodiments of the CVD method, the reactor is maintained at a pressure ranging from 10 mTorr to 760 Torr during the deposition process. The above steps define one cycle for the method described herein; and the cycle can be repeated until the desired thickness of a film is obtained.

For multi-component silicon-containing films, other precursors such as silicon-containing precursors, nitrogen-containing precursors, oxygen-containing sources, nitrogen-containing source, reducing agents, and/or other reagents can be alternately introduced into the reactor chamber.

In a further embodiment of the method described herein, the silicon-containing film is deposited using a thermal CVD process. In this embodiment, the method comprises:

a. placing one or more substrates into a reactor which is heated to a temperature ranging from ambient temperature to about 700° C.;

b. introducing at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising Si—N bond, Si—Si bond, and Si—H₂ groups represented by the following formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring; and

c. providing a nitrogen-containing source into the reactor to at least partially react with the at least one organoaminodisilane precursor and deposit a silicon-containing film onto the one or more substrates. In certain embodiments of the CVD method, the reactor is maintained at a pressure ranging from 10 mTorr to 760 Torr during the deposition process.

In a further embodiment of the method described herein, the organoaminodisilane precursors are used for depositing a silicon containing film which is an amorphous film, a crystalline silicon film, or a mixture thereof. In these embodiments, the silicon containing films is formed using a deposition method selected from ALD or cyclic CVD that comprises the steps of:

a. placing a substrates into a reactor which is heated to a temperature ranging from ambient temperature to about 700° C.;

b. introducing at least organoaminodisilane precursor comprising Si—N bond, Si—Si bond, and Si—H₂ groups represented by the following formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring;

c. providing a reducing agent into the reactor to at least partially react with the at least one organoaminodisilane precursor and deposit a silicon containing film onto the one or more substrates wherein the reducing agent is at least one selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydrogen plasma, or hydrogen chloride. The above steps define one cycle for the method described herein; and the cycle can be repeated until the desired thickness of a silicon containing film is obtained. The desired thickness of the film can range from 1 Å to 10,000 Å.

In another aspect, there is provided a method of depositing amorphous or crystalline silicon film via an atomic layer deposition or cyclic chemical vapor deposition process or chemical vapor deposition at temperature lower than conventional silicon precursors, the method comprising the steps of:

a. providing a substrate in a reactor;

b. introducing into the reactor an at least one organoaminodisilane precursor comprising a Si—N bond, a Si—Si bond, and a Si—H₂ group represented by the following Formula I below:

wherein R¹ and R³ are each independently selected from a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; R² and R⁴ are each independently selected from a hydrogen, a linear or branched C₁ to C₁₀ alkyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkenyl group, a linear or branched C₃ to C₁₀ alkynyl group, a C₁ to C₆ dialkylamino group, an electron withdrawing group, and a C₆ to C₁₀ aryl group; and wherein any one, all, or none of R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, R¹ and R³, or R² and R⁴ are linked together to form a ring selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring or a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ring;

c. purging the reactor with a purge gas; and wherein steps b through c are repeated until a desired thickness of the silicon film is obtained.

It is believed that the Formula I precursors described herein can generate H₂Si: di-radicals upon heating which can promote formation oligomers containing Si—Si bonds or anchoring on the surface of a substrate. Those oligomers or anchored SiH₂ can further form amorphous silicon films and importantly they can function as seed layer for subsequent deposition of silicon or silicon oxide films

In certain embodiments, the organoaminodisilane precursors having Formula I described herein can also be used as a dopant for metal containing films, such as but not limited to, metal oxide films or metal nitride films. In these embodiments, the metal containing film is deposited using an ALD or CVD process such as those processes described herein using metal alkoxide, metal amide, or volatile organometallic precursors. Examples of suitable metal alkoxide precursors that may be used with the method disclosed herein include, but are not limited to, group 3 to 6 metal alkoxide, group 3 to 6 metal complexes having both alkoxy and alkyl substituted cyclopentadienyl ligands, group 3 to 6 metal complexes having both alkoxy and alkyl substituted pyrrolyl ligands, group 3 to 6 metal complexes having both alkoxy and diketonate ligands; group 3 to 6 metal complexes having both alkoxy and ketoester ligands; Examples of suitable metal amide precursors that may be used with the method disclosed herein include, but are not limited to, tetrakis(dimethylamino)zirconium (TDMAZ), tetrakis(diethylamino)zirconium (TDEAZ), tetrakis(ethylmethylamino)zirconium (TEMAZ), tetrakis(dimethylamino)hafnium (TDMAH), tetrakis(diethylamino)hafnium (TDEAH), and tetrakis(ethylmethylamino)hafnium (TEMAH), tetrakis(dimethylamino)titanium (TDMAT), tetrakis(diethylamino)titanium (TDEAT), tetrakis(ethylmethylamino)titanium (TEMAT), tert-butylimino tri(diethylamino)tantalum (TBTDET), tert-butylimino tri(dimethylamino)tantalum (TBTDMT), tert-butylimino tri(ethylmethylamino)tantalum (TBTEMT), ethylimino tri(diethylamino)tantalum (EITDET), ethylimino tri(dimethylamino)tantalum (EITDMT), ethylimino tri(ethylmethylamino)tantalum (EITEMT), tert-amylimino tri(dimethylamino)tantalum (TAIMAT), tert-amylimino tri(diethylamino)tantalum, pentakis(dimethylamino)tantalum, tert-amylimino tri(ethylmethylamino)tantalum, bis(tert-butylimino)bis(dimethylamino)tungsten (BTBMW), bis(tert-butylimino)bis(diethylamino)tungsten, bis(tert-butylimino)bis(ethylmethylamino)tungsten, and combinations thereof. Examples of suitable organometallic precursors that may be used with the method disclosed herein include, but are not limited to, group 3 metal cyclopentadienyls or alkyl cyclopentadienyls. Exemplary Group 3 to 6 metal herein include, but not limited to, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Er, Yb, Lu, Ti, Hf, Zr, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, and W.

In certain embodiments, the resultant silicon-containing films or coatings can be exposed to a post-deposition treatment such as, but not limited to, a plasma treatment, chemical treatment, ultraviolet light exposure, electron beam exposure, and/or other treatments to affect one or more properties of the film.

In certain embodiments, the silicon-containing films described herein have a dielectric constant of 6 or less. In these or other embodiments, the films can a dielectric constant of about 5 or below, or about 4 or below, or about 3.5 or below. However, it is envisioned that films having other dielectric constants (e.g., higher or lower) can be formed depending upon the desired end-use of the film. An example of the silicon containing or silicon-containing film that is formed using the organoaminodisilane precursors and processes described herein has the formulation Si_(x)O_(y)C_(z)N_(v)H_(w) wherein Si ranges from about 10% to about 40%; 0 ranges from about 0% to about 65%; C ranges from about 0% to about 75% or from about 0% to about 50%; N ranges from about 0% to about 75% or from about 0% to 50%; and H ranges from about 0% to about 50% atomic percent weight % wherein x+y+z+v+w=100 atomic weight percent, as determined for example, by XPS or other means.

As mentioned previously, the method described herein may be used to deposit a silicon-containing film on at least a portion of a substrate. Examples of suitable substrates include but are not limited to, silicon, SiO₂, Si₃N₄, OSG, FSG, silicon carbide, hydrogenated silicon carbide, silicon nitride, hydrogenated silicon nitride, silicon carbonitride, hydrogenated silicon carbonitride, boronitride, antireflective coatings, photoresists, organic polymers, porous organic and inorganic materials, a flexible substrate, metals such as copper and aluminum, and diffusion barrier layers such as but not limited to TiN, Ti(C)N, TaN, Ta(C)N, Ta, W, or WN. The films are compatible with a variety of subsequent processing steps such as, for example, chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) and anisotropic etching processes.

The deposited films have applications, which include, but are not limited to, computer chips, optical devices, magnetic information storages, coatings on a supporting material or substrate, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), nanoelectromechanical systems, thin film transistor (TFT), light emitting diodes (LED), organic light emitting diodes (OLED), IGZO, and liquid crystal displays (LCD).

The following examples illustrate the method for preparing organoaminodisilane precursors as well as deposited silicon-containing films described herein and are not intended to limit it in any way.

EXAMPLES Example 1: Synthesis of 1,2-Bis(di-sec-butylamino)disilane

In a 3-necked round bottom flask equipped with a mechanic stirrer, a condenser, and an addition funnel, a solution of 1 equivalent 1,2-dichlorodisilane in hexane was cooled to −10 C with a cold bath. With stirring, 4 equivalent of di-sec-butylamine was added dropwise through the addition funnel. After the addition was completed, the reaction mixture was allowed to warm up to room temperature. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 hours, followed by filtration. A distillation removed solvent hexane from the filtrate. The product 1,2-Bis(di-sec-butylamino)disilane was obtained by vacuum distillation. Gas chromatography (GC) showed that it was >99% pure 1,2-bis(di-sec-butylamino)disilane

Example 2: Synthesis of 1,2-Bis(cis-2,6-dimethylpiperidino)disilane

In a 3-necked round bottom flask equipped with a mechanic stirrer, a condenser, and an addition funnel, a solution of 1 equivalent 1,2-dichlorodisilane in hexane was cooled to −10° C. with a cold bath. With stirring, 4 equivalents of cis-2,6-dimethylpiperidine was added dropwise through the addition funnel. After the addition was completed, the reaction mixture was allowed to warm up to room temperature. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 hours, followed by filtration. A distillation removed solvent hexane from the filtrate. The product 1,2-Bis(di-sec-butylamino)disilane was obtained by vacuum distillation. Gas chromatography (GC) showed that it was >99% pure 1,2-bis(cis-2,6-dimethylpiperidino)disilane. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A precursor for forming a silicon containing film comprising at least one organoaminodisilane selected from the group consisting of phenylethylaminodisilane and 1,2-bis(2,6-dimethylpiperidino)disilane, wherein the organoaminodisilane is produced by reacting 1,2-dichlorodisilane with at least one amine; and wherein the organoaminodisilane is greater than about 98% pure and comprises less than about 2% bis-disilane by-product.
 2. The precursor of claim 1 further comprising at least one nitrogen source wherein the at least one organoaminodisilane and the nitrogen-containing source react to provide the silicon-containing film.
 3. The precursor of claim 2 wherein the nitrogen-containing source is selected from the group consisting of ammonia, hydrazine, monoalkylhydrazine, dialkylhydrazine, nitrogen, nitrogen/hydrogen, ammonia plasma, nitrogen plasma, nitrogen/hydrogen plasma, and mixtures thereof.
 4. The precursor of claim 2 wherein the silicon-containing film is selected from the group consisting of silicon nitride and silicon carbonitride.
 5. The precursor of claim 1 further comprising at least one oxygen-containing source wherein the at least one oxygen-containing source reacts with the organoaminodisilane to provide the silicon containing film.
 6. The precursor of claim 1 wherein the precursor is within a vessel.
 7. The precursor of claim 6 wherein the vessel is comprised of stainless steel.
 8. The precursor of claim 1 wherein the organoaminodisilane is produced by reacting 1,2-dihalodisilane having a formula XSiH₂SiH₂X wherein X=CI, Br, or I, with at least one amine and has less than about 2% bis-disilane products.
 9. The precursor of claim 1 wherein the organoaminodisilane is produced by reacting disilane with secondary amine in presence of catalyst.
 10. A precursor comprising phenylethylaminodisilane.
 11. The precursor of claim 10 further comprising at least one nitrogen source wherein the phenylethylaminodisilane and the nitrogen-containing source react to provide the silicon-containing film.
 12. The precursor of claim 10 further comprising at least one oxygen-containing source wherein the at least one oxygen-containing source reacts with the phenylethylaminodisilane to provide the silicon containing film.
 13. A precursor comprising 1,2-bis(2,6-dimethylpiperidino)disilane.
 14. The precursor of claim 13 further comprising at least one nitrogen source wherein the 1,2-bis(2,6-dimethylpiperidino)disilane and the nitrogen-containing source react to provide the silicon-containing film.
 15. The precursor of claim 13 further comprising at least one oxygen-containing source wherein the at least one oxygen-containing source reacts with the 1,2-bis(2,6-dimethylpiperidino)disilane to provide the silicon containing film.
 16. A composition comprising: (a) 1,2-bis(2,6-dimethylpiperidino)disilane having a purity of greater than about 98%; and (b) a solvent wherein the solvent has a boiling point and the difference between the boiling point of the solvent and a boiling point of the organoaminodisilane is 40° C. or less.
 17. The composition of claim 16 wherein the solvent comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of ether, tertiary amine, alkyl hydrocarbon, aromatic hydrocarbon, and tertiary aminoether. 